‘Investigation of Mrs. Kim’ Excludes Song Kyung-ho
‘Yoon Prosecutor General Spokesperson’ Lee Chang-soo Deployed
“Competing with Swift Investigation” Analysis
Heightened Alert on Political Investigation Expansion Including Lime Scandal and Coin Transactions
The personnel reshuffle of senior prosecutors at the level of chief prosecutors and above on the 13th was carried out abruptly, to the extent that even senior officials at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office were unaware in advance. Overall, the reshuffle was evaluated as being based on the standard of ‘Yun-ga-geun-han-ga-won (尹可近韓可遠)’, meaning personnel close to Yoon Seok-yeol but distant from Han Dong-hoon. Before the shock of the reshuffle subsided, the attention of the legal community and political circles turned to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office.
Lee Chang-su, Chief Prosecutor of the Central District Prosecutors' Office · Shin Eung-seok, Chief Prosecutor of the Southern District Prosecutors' Office [Image source=Beopryul Newspaper]
Pro-Yoon (親尹) chief prosecutors were deployed to the two district prosecutors' offices, which are handling politically sensitive cases. Lee Chang-soo, the chief prosecutor of the Central District Prosecutors' Office, who will oversee investigations related to First Lady Kim Geon-hee and Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, and Shin Eung-seok, chief prosecutor of the Southern District Prosecutors' Office, which has jurisdiction over the National Assembly, could cause political upheaval depending on their investigative choices. The direction of investigations at these two prosecutor’s offices is being closely watched.
Chief Prosecutors with Proven Investigative Achievements Deployed Forward
Lee Chang-soo, chief prosecutor of the Central District Prosecutors' Office, led the investigation into the illegal sponsorship funds for Seongnam FC during his tenure as head of the Seongnam branch, indicting Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, on charges of bribery by a third party. The Seongnam FC illegal sponsorship case, which began with Lee’s complaint in 2018, had made little progress. After Lee’s appointment in July 2022, Lee Jae-myung was summoned for questioning in January 2023. Subsequently, the Seongnam FC case was transferred to the Central District Prosecutors' Office and merged with investigations into the Daejang-dong and Wirye New Town development corruption allegations.
Having achieved visible results, Lee was considered a strong candidate for the next chief prosecutor of the Southern District Prosecutors' Office in the second half of last year’s senior personnel reshuffle but was instead appointed chief prosecutor of the Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office. At Jeonju, he handled investigations into allegations of preferential hiring at an airline involving the former son-in-law of former President Moon Jae-in, conducting summons and questioning of key Blue House personnel such as former Presidential Secretary for Personnel Kim Woo-ho, former Secretary for Public Officials Kim Jong-ho, and former Senior Secretary for Personnel Cho Hyun-ok, accelerating the investigation.
With Lee’s move to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, the transfer of the preferential hiring allegations involving former President Moon’s son-in-law is also likely. The legal community anticipates that related investigations may intensify at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.
A New Phase in the Investigation of First Lady Kim Geon-hee
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is handling sensitive cases including allegations of receiving luxury handbags by First Lady Kim, involvement in Deutsche Motors stock manipulation, allegations of money envelope distribution at the Democratic Party convention, and election interference and public opinion manipulation. Unlike other stalled cases, about ten days ago, under the direction of Prosecutor General Lee Won-seok, a dedicated team was formed for the investigation related to the First Lady. For example, on the 13th, Pastor Choi Jae-young, who handed over the luxury handbag, was summoned as a suspect, accelerating the investigation.
In this context, former Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office chief Song Kyung-ho, who had clashed with Yongsan over the need to summon the First Lady, was appointed chief prosecutor of the Busan High Prosecutors' Office in this reshuffle. Although this is a promotion in rank, many analyze that he has been sidelined from investigative duties. Lee Chang-soo, who served as spokesperson for the Supreme Prosecutors' Office when President Yoon Seok-yeol was Prosecutor General, enjoys strong trust.
It is not easy to predict how Lee, who possesses investigative capability and planning skills, will handle the investigation of the First Lady. However, it is expected that after subsequent mid-level personnel appointments, the pace of the investigation into the First Lady’s case will accelerate. A source from the prosecution stated, “With Democratic Party lawmaker Chu Mi-ae, who strongly advocates prosecutorial reform, challenging the Speaker position and the Democratic Party holding an absolute majority in the National Assembly, if the prosecution fails to produce noticeable investigative results, the grounds to oppose a special prosecutor will disappear. The prevailing view is that Lee will conduct the investigation into the First Lady swiftly and thoroughly.”
Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office Accumulates Political Cases
Shin Eung-seok, chief prosecutor of the Southern District Prosecutors' Office, is a special prosecutor who investigated the ‘Park Yeon-cha Gate’ and the illegal political funds case involving former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook. The Southern District Prosecutors' Office has jurisdiction over Yeouido and handles major cases related to the National Assembly and the securities sector, with investigations accumulating that could expand into political circles, such as the Lime fund case and the WEMIX case involving independent lawmaker Kim Nam-guk.
The prosecution has been intensifying reinvestigations into the Lime scandal since last year. They are examining allegations that Lime Fund gave preferential redemptions to influential figures including politicians in August-September 2019, just before a large-scale redemption suspension, expanding the scope of investigation to political circles. The prosecution is also investigating allegations of excessive circulation of WEMIX coins by Wemade and suspicious coin transactions involving lawmaker Kim Nam-guk. There are ongoing investigations into allegations that Wemade executives visited the National Assembly multiple times to conduct ‘legislative lobbying.’
Woo Bin, Lim Hyun-kyung, Legal Times Reporters
※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.
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